1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and compositions for reducing the sag of a weight material in a drilling fluid for drilling operations such as drilling, running casing, and cementing and in fluids for workover operations.
2. Description of Relevant Art
A drilling fluid, or “mud” which a drilling fluid is also often called, is a specially designed fluid that is circulated in a wellbore or borehole as the wellbore is being drilled in a subterranean formation to facilitate the drilling operation. As used herein, the term “drilling operation” shall mean drilling, running casing and/or cementing unless indicated otherwise. The various functions of a drilling fluid include removing drill cuttings from the wellbore, cooling and lubricating the drill bit, aiding in support of the drill pipe and drill bit, and providing a hydrostatic head to maintain the integrity of the wellbore walls and prevent well blowouts. Specific drilling fluid systems are selected to optimize a drilling operation in accordance with the characteristics of a particular geological formation.
A drilling fluid typically comprises water and/or oil or synthetic oil or other synthetic material or synthetic fluid as a base fluid, with solids in suspension. A non-aqueous based drilling fluid typically contains oil or synthetic fluid as a continuous phase and may also contain water dispersed in the continuous phase by emulsification so that there is no distinct layer of water in the fluid. Such dispersed water in oil is generally referred to as an invert emulsion or water-in-oil emulsion.
A number of additives may be included in such drilling fluids and invert emulsions to enhance certain properties of the fluid. Such additives may include, for example, emulsifiers, weighting agents, fluid-loss control agents, viscosifiers or viscosity control agents, and alkali. Weighting agents are commonly added to increase the density of the fluid. Barite or barytes (barium sulphate) are typical weighting agents, although other minerals are also common.
Viscosifiers are typically added to increase the viscosity of the fluid to facilitate or enhance suspension of weighting agents in the fluid. Organoclays, such as for example bentonites hectorites and other swelling clays, chemically treated to enhance their oil wettability, are typical viscosifiers. Organic polymers and long chain fatty acids may also be added to increase viscosity and aid weighting agent suspension.
Generally, increased viscosity leads to improved suspension of weighting agents which in turn limits or reduces problematic “sag.” However, excessive viscosity can have adverse effects on equivalent circulating density (causing it to increase), which can also lead to problems, particularly in wells where the differences in subterranean formation pore pressures and fracture gradients are small, as commonly encountered in deep water wells.
Under certain well conditions, including without limitation, well geometries, temperatures and pressures, a phenomenon called “barite sag” or “sag” can occur. “Sag” is generally a “significant” variation in mud density (>0.5 lbm/gal) along the mud column, which is the result of settling of the weighting agent or weight material and other solids in the drilling fluid. Sag generally results from the inability of the drilling fluid under the particular well conditions to provide adequate suspension properties.
Suspensions of solids in non-vertical columns are known to settle faster than suspensions in vertical ones. This effect is driven by gravity and impeded by fluid rheology, particularly non-Newtonian and time dependent rheology. Manifestation of this effect in a drilling fluid is also known as “sag,” although sag occurs in both vertical and non-vertical wells.
Drilling fluids in deviated wellbores can exhibit sag in both static and dynamic situations. In this context, static is a totally quiescent fluid state, such as when drilling has ceased; dynamic is any situation where the fluid is exposed to a shear stress, such as for example during drilling. As used hereinafter, the term “sag” shall be understood to include both static and dynamic sag unless specifically indicated otherwise.
Sag can result in formation of a bed of the weighting agents on the low side of the wellbore, and stuck pipe, among other things. In some cases, sag can be very problematic to the drilling operation and in extreme cases may cause hole abandonment. As directional drilling and deviated wellbores become more common if not the norm in the oil and gas industry, more and improved methods are needed to reduce or eliminate sag, without adding viscosity problems.